Yesterday, I remembered that I have an Edublogs account. In the summer of 2007, I was entering my third year of teaching, and started a blog to help me reflect on my teaching and improve as an educator. I maintained that blog for exactly 18 days before getting back into my classroom and promptly forgetting about it.

Things have changed a lot for me since then. I now live in another country (O Canada!), for starters. I was a teacher for ten years before moving, and have essentially been a live-in nurse for my mother-in-law for the past three years, which means I have not been in the classroom.

I miss teaching every single day. Lately, I’ve been having dreams about being back in the classroom, although I’m not sure why. It must mean something, though, so that’s gotten me thinking about my role in education as someone who is not a classroom teacher at the moment.

I’ve learned so much in those ten years of teaching. Reading through the whopping seven blog posts on my Edublog, I can see that there are a lot of thoughts I had eleven years ago that haven’t changed at all. I still believe that teaching writing using the 6 + 1 traits as presented by Ruth Culham is key; it literally allows the students to put the pieces of their writing together like a puzzle. I still believe that constant communication with parents is one of the most crucial aspects of running your classroom.

However, there are a lot of ways that I’ve changed since 2007 (thank goodness). In 2007, I wanted to be more organized. In 2018, I cringe at the thought of leaving school in the afternoon without straightening up my desk and putting out my supplies for the next morning. Back then, I believed in the advice I’d heard over and over: “Don’t let them see you smile until Christmas.” Now, I know that some of the most difficult students need a hug more than anything else, and showing my students that they are loved and valued in the classroom are my primary goals.